A Queens man who jumped into the East River from the South St. Seaport Pier 17 to retrieve a disposable camera drowned shortly after 12:30 p.m. Sun. July 27 within sight of his friends and a crowd of Seaport visitors, police said.

The victim, Paul Oakes, 26, of Springfield Gardens, Queens was standing at the north end of Pier 17 with friends when someone dropped the camera into the water. Oakes jumped in after it but the currently began carrying him south. A would-be rescuer tied a rope to a garbage can lid and threw it to Oakes who could not grab it before he was swept away.

Officers from the First Precinct, harbor police and a police helicopter responded to the call but could not find the victim. Police scuba divers found the body two hours later at Pier 16, police said.

Dies after fight

After a fight between two men at 3:50 p.m. Sun July 20 in front of 172 Prince St., one of the men collapsed and was taken to St. Vincents Hospital, police said. Nam Kim, 60, of Flushing died at St. Vincents two days later and police were investigating the case as a possible homicide after the Medical Examiners office found that a head injury led to the death. There was no arrest by press time, police said.